Solly Noach, a Dutch Jewish businessman who received a rare award from the Queen for saving the lives of Nazi victims in occupied Holland during World War II, died here at the age of 70 after a long illness. Noach, a carpet dealer with little formal education and no official status, engineered the escape of hundreds of Dutch Jews and others to Spain and Switzerland.
He performed this task despite the indifference and frequent obstruction of Dutch officials abroad who wanted to avoid “illegal” activities and, took the view that Jews incurred no greater risks than others in Nazi-occupied lands. Nevertheless, he engaged the sympathy and friendship of the then Queen Wilhelmina who was indignant over the callous treatment of Jewish refugees by Dutch Consular officials in France and elsewhere. Subsequently he received the Medal of the House of Orange, an honor conferred by the Queen at her own initiative.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
